Sunday June 3, 2018 Matt McKinley

Theme: "Emergency Room Staff"-  ER is added to each theme entry.

23A. Proposed explanation for oversize British sausage?: BIG BANGER THEORY. Big Bang Theory.

41A. Kiss in the rink?: HOCKEY PUCKER. Hockey puck.
 

62A. Screwballs hanging out at the end of the block?: CORNER FLAKES. Corn Flakes.

84A. Dollhouse porch chair?: LITTLE ROCKER. Little Rock.

104A. Lackadaisical soccer shot?: SLEEPY HEADER. Sleepy head.

123A. Dark ale expert?: PORTER AUTHORITY. Port authority.

15D. Dive at the governor's mansion pool?: CAPITAL GAINER. Capital gain.

61D. Fishing pro?: ALL-STAR CASTER. All-star cast.

The gainer in 15D is new to me, but I'm glad it has a different meaning, otherwise, the root word does not change much.

Quite a lot of themage. Total 104 squares.

Across:

1. Garments with hooks: BRAS.

5. Metro regions: URBS. Never used this word. You?

9. Complaint: BEEF.

13. Metals industry acronym: ALCOA. Kicked out of Dow a while ago.

18. Ocular cleaning brand: RENU.

19. Hilarious type: RIOT.

20. Lewis lion: ASLAN.

22. Destined (to): MEANT.

26. One in a newsstand stack: PAPER. Hard to a find a New York Times in our local gas stations or Barnes & Noble. The Wall Street Journal is everywhere though.

27. News agcy.: UPI.

28. Like rainy London skies: GREY.

29. Zagros Mountains country: IRAQ. Wiki says the Zagros Mountains form the largest mountain range in Iran, Iraq and southeastern Turkey.

31. Stack: PILE.

32. Rap sheet list: PRIORS.

35. Scotland, in Scottish Gaelic: ALBA. Learning moment.

38. Spanish hillsides: CUESTAS. Learning moment.

40. Highly regarded speakers: BOSE.I was thinking of House Speakers.

46. Germane: APT.

47. Name of two 134-Acrosses: JOHN PAUL. 134. Religious leader: POPE.

49. Dupe: REPRO. Reproduction.

50. U.K. governing body: PARL. Parliament. Gluey.

52. Vital conduits: AORTAS.

54. Self-serve fast-food item: SODA.

56. Farming prefix: AGRI.

59. Greener Living org.: EPA.

66. City on the Orne: CAEN.

67. "The first thing you must know ... ": RULE ONE. You do not talk about Fight Club.

69. "You __ on My Mind": 1965 hit: WERE. We Five.

70. Reducing big-time: SLASHING. The local high-end chain Herberger's is closing all its stores.

72. DuPont acrylic: ORLON.

73. Outer __: SPACE.

75. Near the hour: TEN TO.

76. Summer time?: DISCO ERA. Great clue. Donna Summer.

80. Slate, for one: E-MAG.

81. Greet warmly: SMILE AT.

83. Ferrara family name: ESTE.

87. "Kidnapped" monogram: RLS. Robert Louis Stevenson.

88. Country suffix: STAN. 7 nations.

89. Reason for an R: GORE. R-Rating.

90. Prime minister after Begin: SHAMIR. Yitzhak.

92. Stigmatic fictional symbol: RED A. Also 98. Expiate: ATONE FOR.

94. Ham it up: EMOTE.

102. "Mad Men" network: AMC.

107. Diminish slowly: FADE.

108. Wild Blue Yonder seller since 2003: CRAYOLA. Did not know Wild Blue Yonder is a Crayola color.

110. Quiet time: LULL. Quiet most of the time at our garage sale. Those framed pictures are Boomer's jigsaw puzzles. Someone actually bought one. I was amazed.

111. Gives rise to: YIELDS.

113. Canadian tank fillers: ESSO.

114. Marine predator: ORCA.

117. Bounce: ECHO.

120. No and Phil: DRS.

121. Ballet attire: TUTUS.

129. Brand for pain: ALEVE

130. Baking staple: SUGAR. Have any of you tried these mountain yams? Sugared mountain yams used to be our Chinese Spring Festival treats.

131. Ballet bend: PLIE.

132. Picked do: AFRO.

133. What bait does: LURES.

135. Door sign: PUSH.

136. Like eyes "you can't hide," in an Eagles hit: LYIN'.

Down:

1. Texter's "Need a short break": BRB. Be Right Back. One of the little words Argyle liked to use.

2. Portuguese king: REI.

3. Distress: ANGUISH.

4. Order in the court: SUBPOENA.

5. Keats subject: URN.

6. TV's Mrs. Peel: RIGG.

7. Orange Free State settler: BOER.

8. Hot time: STREAK.

9. Rats relative?: BAH.  The expletive "rats!".

10. Saskatoon-to-Winnipeg dir.: ESE.

11. Fair-haired sci-fi race: ELOI. 7 "The Time Machine" race.

12. Castmate of Alda and Swit: FARR.

13. Rev (up): AMP.

14. Quantum events?: LEAPS.

16. Pool unit: ONE LAP.

17. Immobile: AT REST.

21. New York City suburb on the Hudson: NYACK. Forgot. We had this before.

24. Fresh __: AIR.

25. Perry who created Madea: TYLER.

30. "'Sup, Juan?": QUE PASA?

32. Lunchbox staple, casually: PBJ.

33. Kanga's kid: ROO.

34. Gless of "Cagney & Lacey": SHARON.

36. Playoffs privilege: BYE.

37. Kindle download: APP.

39. Mound meas.: ERA. Pitcher's mound. More stuff from our garage sale. The Santana and  Gardenhire bobbleheads are gone.

42. Strange: OUTRE.

43. Extended family: CLAN.

44. Celestial bear: URSA.

45. "Order up!" callers: COOKS.

48. Pennsylvania's __ Mountains: POCONO.

51. Mother of Joseph: RACHEL.

53. Finalizes, with "up": SEWS.

55. Dover's st.: DEL.

57. Enterprise offering: RENTAL. We went back to Payless this year.

58. Closely watched bars: INGOTS. Gold bars.

59. Eats into: ERODES.

60. Strict observer: PURIST.

63. Turn back: REPEL.

64. Bowling unit: FRAME.

65. Aptly named Renault: LE CAR.

68. Dawn-of-mammals epoch: EOCENE.

71. Recipe words: STIR IN.

74. They may clash on the lot: EGOS.

77. "The Fantasticks" narrator whose name translates to "The Rooster": EL GALLO. I know Pico de gallo. Did not know "gallo" means "rooster" in Spanish.

78. Atlantic resort city: RIO.

79. Kilmer's famous last words?: A TREE. OK, the last line is "But only God can make a tree".

81. Glide on blades: SKATE.

82. Computer's abundance: MEMORY.

85. Holiday hire: TEMP.

86. Libya neighbor: CHAD.

91. Common HMO requirement: REFERRAL.

93. U.K. military award: DSO. Distinguished Service Order.

95. Olive not found in martinis: OYL.

96. Cal. column: THU.

97. Conger catcher: EELER. This old EELER is the only eel catcher I know of. 

99. Fake: FALSIFY.

100. Atypical: ODD.

101. Hi-__ image: RES.

102. Perfumery compound: ACETAL.

103. Enterprise helmsman: MR SULU.

105. Old West brothers: EARPS.

106. Fearless Fosdick's creator: AL CAPP. Unfamiliar with Fearless Fosdick.

109. "__ grown": YOU'VE. Not FULLY.

112. Altar promise: I DO.

115. Clever maneuver: COUP.

116. 2012 Best Picture: ARGO.

118. "The Handmaid's Tale" airer: HULU. Any fans on our blog?

119. Bluesy Redding: OTIS.

122. French possessive: SES. His.

124. Wire intrusion: TAP.

125. Ode preposition: ERE.

126. Sneaky laugh: HEH.

127. __-tip: beef cut: TRI.

128. "Round __ virgin ... ": YON.

Happy birthday to Owen, who does not like birthday celebrations. Thank you for so many years of joy and creative inspiration, Owen! Stay healthy for us!

C.C.

Saturday, June 2, 2018, Erik Agard

Themeless Saturday Puzzle on National Prairie Day

Today Erik Agard's challenge comes to us on the first Saturday in June which is National Prairie Day. Who better to discuss his puzzle on this day than someone who has lived his entire seventy-one years on the prairie of the Great Plains than Husker Gary. 

Shown here is a beautiful part of my state where an exclusive golf course has been carved into the prairie near Valentine, Nebraska. This combines the love of where I live with my favorite pastime.

 Here our constructor Erik is shown after winning an ACTP event. If you "blow up" the puzzle behind him, I think you will get an idea of the sense of those championship puzzles.

Here is a 2013 interview Erik did with C.C.

OXLIP

I last blogged an Eric Agard puzzle on Cinco de Mayo where he partnered with Sam Donaldson. 

Today's solo effort by Erik challenged and entertained me greatly especially where I definitely thought TOME was correct but whose O could not possibly be right to start TULIP for 

44. Yellow perennial: OXLIP where I already had firmly established _ _ L I P

Oh well, I left it in as you can see below in DA GRID and I'll accept my uncertainty as punishment. 




Let's see what else this wunderkind (19 yrs old in 2013) has for us here on the prairie and elsewhere in the U.S. of A.


Across:

1. Pitch sign: CLEF - Now if this had been a C.C. puzzle... 

5. Saturn, for one: GAS GIANT - We live on the third of the four inner "Rocky Planets" from the Sun. Beyond Mars there are four GAS GIANT planets that probably have no solid surface

13. Super-fancy: LUXE - Okay

14. Slightly more than a one-man show: TWO HANDER - A new term for me. A play for two actors as seen here

Linda Lavin and Sarah Paulson in Collected Stories

15. Most eligible for service: ONE-A - A classification that drove many Vietnam Era boys to college for at least a year

16. Pluralis majestatis: THE ROYAL WE - Below, you see a Queen Victoria statement after a comedian told an "off color" story in her presence at a large public gathering  

17. Bee's home: SACRAMENTO - Neither HONEYCOMB nor MAYBERRY NC worked where Sacramento's newspaper's was intended

19. Te __: iconic Chickasaw actress: ATA- An incredible Oklahoma Chickasaw woman who saw fame as an actress, story teller and politician. She performed for FDR and George VI in 1939 who was the aforementioned Queen Victoria's grandson

20. Layer of very large eggs: EMU.

21. Grilled, in Mexican fare: ASADA.

22. Jefferson, for one: DEIST.

24. Slangy "Absolutely!": TOTES - Short for Totally. Man, you must really be in a hurry if you use TOTES for  Totally as in "the scenery is TOTES amazing!"

26. Add: TOSS IN - "All right, we'll TOSS IN the undercoating on that car!" Yeah right!

28. Pixy __: candy: STIX - essentially artificially colored sugar

29. Modern navigation aid: URL

30. Some Spitzes, for short: POMS - Here's a POMERANIAN getting cooled off at a dog show

32. Rhetorical question to one who's too good to be true: HOW ARE YOU REAL? - A question I've had about the amazing Minneapolis (by way of Xi'an, China) woman who runs this blog and has given me a lovely new dimension to my life!

36. Scandinavian name akin to Nicholas: NILS - The "36. Guitarist Lofgren" must have been already checked out of the clue library

37. "Code Switch" airer: NPR.

38. "No more!": STOP 

40. Fired at the table?: FLAMBE.

42. Member of a Hindu trinity: SHIVA

Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord SHIVA

43. Ones with wide spines: TOMES - My first thought for a wide-spined TOME

46. Young partner: ERNST - ERNST and Young is a professional services company headquartered in London

48. Image quality word: RES  - Hi RESolution and Low RESolution 

49. Long Reach Dusting System brand: OXO.

50. Rainforest visitor: ECO TOURIST.

52. Act naturally: PLAY IT COOL - Ringo did get to sing Act Naturally 

55. Chaps competitor: IZOD - Some of my golf shirts are IZOD I bought on sale





56. Powerful slitherer: PINE SNAKE - Here's  one in its namesake milieu 

57. Red Lobster has one for kids: MENU  Lobster burger with crab fries?

58. Wolverines rivals: SPARTANS.

59. Meeting of two sides: EDGE.



Down:

1. Secrecy metaphors: CLOSETS - I think most everybody is out of most every CLOSET and for the most part that is great including the one labelled 8. LGBTQ part: GAY.

2. Green flitter: LUNA MOTH - That which FLITS can be called a FLITTER which I usually consider to be a verb. That which FLITTERS would then be called a FLITTERER I guess.

3. How it's done: EXECUTION - The EXECUTION of a sacrifice bunt in baseball is cool to watch. I know this will be scored a base hit but still... 

4. "The mind-killer," in Frank Herbert's "Dune": FEAR.

5. 1950 Pulitzer winner for the poetry collection "Annie Allen": GWENDOLYN BROOKS - For this book she became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize. I truly enjoyed learning about this poet

6. Heart lines: AORTAS.

7. Order to go: SHOO - cute clue

9. "Barefoot Contessa" host Garten: INA - Speaking of female authors 

10. Dwight's opponent: ADLAI - Combined, Adlai got 162 Electoral votes in 1952 & 1956 while Ike got 899

11. Older efts: NEWTS Eft/Newt Life Cycle if you're interested. None of these became The Speaker Of The House as far as I know

12. Minister to: TREAT.

14. __ arts: THEATRE - I missed the British spelling by a centimetre 


16. Symbols after many brand names: TMS - Many of these TradeMark symbols are followed by a  ™ or  ®

18. Remote fillers: AA'S - Papa, how did you change channels before there were remotes?

22. Christian on a runway: DIOR - Hey ladies, it's Ready To Wear 

23. Interlace: ENMESH - FITGURL uses the name in its product

25. Liz, to Richard, twice: EX-WIFE

27. Incite: SPUR.

29. Minor in astronomy?: URSA - The Little Dipper is part of the Little Bear (URSA Minor) Constellation and is the one point in the northern sky that stays in essentially the same place every night

31. Sent up: SATIRIZED.

33. Shakespeare title starter: ALLS - I remember reading ALLS Well That Ends Well in HS but have no memory about the storyline or characters. However, I can calculate square roots with just a pencil and paper, so...

34. Like some summer shoes: OPEN TOE - Some TOES should be out of sight and out of mind

35. Many a Top-40 hit: LOVE SONG - "Our Song" was Can't Help Falling In Love With You

39. Outstanding and then some: PAST DUE - Funniest (probably the only) scene about PAST DUE books ever made!

41. Certain Saudi: MECCAN - One would live a mere 8 hr 3 min drive from Riyadh via Route 40

42. Stand-up comic Gilliam: STU - How rare were black faces on TV in 1968? This picture of STU and Frank Sinatra Jr. is listed as an historical photo.

is 

43. Company that developed Bazooka Joe: TOPPS - TOPPS got into the bubble gum business and had Hopalong Cassidy trading cards in packs included with the gum in 1950. Success came when they switched to baseball player cards in 1952. This TOPPS card is worth big money!

45. Chief Tui's daughter, in a Disney film: MOANA - We'd better learn this recent (2016) Disney heroine as it is bound to become a cwd favorite with all those lovely vowels

47. One day, in "The Martian": SOL - On SOL 71 (upper left hand corner), The (stranded) Martian  (Matt Damon) uttered this fabulous, if slightly profane, statement 

50. Peak in Catania: ETNA - Move over ETNA, MOANA is here 

51. Winter coat: RIME - A beautiful scene in China where apparently they also have winter! 😏

53. Ending with law: YER.

54. "Was __ das?": IST - Das ist das Ende von Erik's Hinweise und jetzt fühlen Sie sich frei, zu kommentieren! (This is the end of Erik's clues and now feel free to comment!)

Friday, June 1, 2018, John Lampkin

Title: Now where did I hide that body? White rabbit, white rabbit all, welcome to June and hurricane season.

John is back following up last week's insect infested puzzle with a challenging and very creative entry in the LA Times not quite a REBUS puzzle type. Rich Norris does not accept classic multi-letters in a single square in puzzles, but here the word BODY is actually crammed into a black square, so it is hidden. Even if you do not like that explanation, this was a very fun puzzle to solve and a wondrous bit of construction. The special twist that makes it shine is the BODY missing at the front of the theme is placed on the left and the BODY missing at the end is on the right. He then puts a big bow on the puzzle by alternating the left-right march. WOW. With 66 squares committed to the theme, John still features some nice fill such as EVEREST, LOCALES, RUBS RAW, SLEEP IN, SPATULA, STOP HIM, PUHLEASE and TRAVIATA. We are given the extra hint of the * so you all knew which were theme related, and if you did not catch on to the gimmick, the two-part reveal should have made the puzzle very doable.  I will begin with the very clever movie reference that inspired this effort. Considered one of the 50 best Sci-Fi movies of all time with Donald Sutherland and Leonard Nimoy

27A. With 44-Across, classic 1956 film ... and why the answers to starred clues aren't quite themselves?: INVASION OF THE (13). 44A. See 27-Across: BODY SNATCHERS.(13).

Now let us find those bodies.

1A. *Tattoos: ART (3) BODY  ART. I think this form of expression has been made most popular by the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issues. Is it NUDITY?

8A. *Hypothetical object that absorbs all incident electromagnetic radiation: BLACKBODY (5).
A blackbody (sometimes spelled "black body") is a theoretically ideal radiator and absorber of energy at all electromagnetic wavelength s. (various). This is an unknown term for me.

16A. *Nonverbal communication: BODY LANGUAGE (8). A key to understanding other people, this is very important in business but may be most important for a COUPLE.

22A. *Snoop: BUSY BODY (4). I think of Samantha Stevens' next-door neighbor, MRS.  KRAVITZ.

50A. *Bumper repair site: BODY SHOP (4). Automobiles are always vulnerable and you need a good mechanic and good body shop.

62A. *Star or nebula: HEAVENLY BODY(8). A CSO to our NASA rep HG. There are so many TYPES. 

67A. *Circadian rhythm: BODY CLOCK. (5). Steve could give us his interesting perspective on this BIOLOGICAL  phenomenon. Meanwhile, I have commented first like three times recently, what's that all about?

69A. *Coveted journalism award: PEABODY. (3). The George Foster Peabody Awards program, named for American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and now, online media. Some past WINNERS. (various)

Well, I am worn out already and we must move on to the rest of the puzzle...

Across:

4. They churn out dough: ATMS. I have not used an Automated Teller Machine for some time.

13. Sign of summer: LEO. That kind of sign.

14. Ecologically challenged Asian sea: ARAL.

15. Ovine output: BAA BAA. Black sheep, have you any wool. CONTROVERSY?  Also, we have 9D. Ewe's output: LAMB. No double BAA, but a shameless self SO by John.

18. Deepest, as feelings: INMOST.

19. Realm: AREA.

20. Op-ed takes: VIEWS.

23. Outdoor gear giant: REI. Recreational Equipment, Inc., commonly known as REI, is an American retail and outdoor recreation services corporation. It is organized as a consumers' co-operative. REI sells sporting goods, camping gear, travel equipment, and clothing. (wiki) I never heard of it.

25. Game that may involve bumpers: POOL. The second reference to bumpers, one for a car and this one.

33. Dose people?: DEM. I bet DIS clue/fill did not please some.

35. Elite prep school: ETON. We started the week with this institution.

36. Dominica native: CARIB. I went to school with two brothers from this small island, and now I work on various projects there.

37. Abrades painfully: RUBS RAW. Alliterative fill, followed by...

39. Flay's flipper: SPATULA. Alliterative clue. Professionals do not need ONE. My wife just uses her wrist.

41. Furious: IRATE.

42. "Better Call __": SAUL. Part of the BREAKING BAD franchise.

43. Foxy: SLY. Saul must be.
.
48. Chihuahua chow: TACO.  Cute JL, but ridiculous- they can't fold or hold them.

49. The SEC's Tigers: LSU. A CSO to our many Louisiana friends here at the Corner.

54. First course in German?: SUPPE. Soup, at a meal, not a school.

56. Thailand, once: SIAM. A  CSO to my sweet wife, thank you JL.

60. Watch a neighbor's pooch, say: PET SIT.

64. Café: EATERY.

65. Ingrid, in "Casablanca": ILSA. So classic.

66. Tell's apple support: SON.

68. Face: MEET.

Down:

1. Penne __ vodka: ALLA. One RECIPE.

2. Caboose: REAR.

3. Text alert, often: TONE.

4. Nonpro sports org.: AAU.

5. "Fallen woman," in a Verdi title: TRAVIATA. A translation,  this was an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La Dame aux Camélias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. (wiki)

6. Star followers: MAGI.

7. Take advantage of a day off, maybe: SLEEP IN.

8. Bar: BAN.

10. "__ Ben Adhem": ABOU. Funny, I would not have known this poem unless YR had printed it when it was fill in a January BAG puzzle. Then again, it was already filled by the perps.

11. Mama with two Papas: CASS.

12. Pop's Perry: KATY. Did any of you watch the new AMERICAN IDOL?

15. Bearded bovine: BISON.

17. Jake __, first Congressman to fly in space: GARN. They named a SCALE after him.

21. Court: WOO.

24. Hillary's peak: EVEREST. An interesting MAN.

26. Neighborhoods: LOCALES.

27. "Don't mess with me": I'M BAD.  Are you LEROY?  I wonder if that is where they got Gibbs' name.

28. Spread: SOW. This would have been one of the harder three-letter fills ever but the perps were there.

29. Generous, as a contract: FAT.

30. Bind: TRUSS.

31. Jack and Jill's Waterloo?: HILL. Very cerebral clue.

32. AuctionWeb, since 1997: eBAY.

33. Little bit: DRIB. Not drab

34. French bread: EURO.

38. Pen with oink, not ink: STY. Cute.

39. Anatomical pouch: SAC. John, you trying my DF nature.

40. Eye-rolling word: PUH-LEASE. Exaggerated form of please, short for if you please, an intransitive, ergative form taken from if it pleases you, which replaced pray. (dictionary)

42. Cry after a holdup: STOP HIM. Stop thief probably jumps to mind

45. Awful: NASTY.

46. Pressure prefix: ACU. sharp-acute, acupuncture, accurate

47. Ploy: RUSE.

50. What a crossword is often constructed on: SPEC. 90% of them I imagine.

51. Mend: HEAL.

52. "Beetle Bailey" hound: OTTO.

53. One 60-trillionth of a min.: PSEC.

55. Brazilian hero: PELE. Soccer (football) legend.

57. Clouseau's rank: Abbr.: INSPector.

58. Bug bite soother: ALOE.  Okay, an insect but one that bit.

59. Feathered mimic: MYNA. How do I get this bird two weeks in a row?

61. Bug: IRK. Not really an insect reference.

63. Dye holder: VAT. A change from the normal beer or wine reference.

Always fun to be taken on a ride by John who often bedevils with his vast and varied knowledge on little critters and music but presented a very fun Friday. After two weeks of almost steady rain, today starts Hurricane season here. Yay. Be safe all, my Charlotte graduated preschool last night. See below. Have a  great month, Lemonade out.